Rail-joint.



:'No.""843,409. PATENTED FEB. 5, I907.

J. L. MEETINS. RAIL JOINT.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNE 19. 1906.

WITNESSES: fi

UNITED STATES JOHN L. MERTINS,

or WOLFE CITY, TEXAS.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 5, 1907.

Application flied June 19, 1996. Serial No. 322.3'13.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN L. Mnn'rms, a citizen of the United States,residing at Wolfe City, in the county of Hunt and State of Texas, haveinvented new and useful Imrovements in Rail-Joints, of which thefolowing is a specification.

Th' the primary object of the same is to provide a device of this classhaving a particular construction and arrangement of arts whereby wearand tear onthe whees of rolling stock will be reduced to a minimum andthe joint as an entirety effectively secured by a special form ofsecuring means.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of theseveral parts, which will be more fully hereinafter described andclaimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of ortions o railsembodying the improved oint. Fig. .2 is a top plan view of the same.Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section therethrough. Fig. 4 shows theextremities of contiguous railsseparatcd and embodying a portion of thefeatures of the joint.

Similar numerals of ref err-11cc are employed to indicate ('orrcspondinrparts in the several views.

The numerals 1 and t. designate railscctions, the section 2 having, alongitudinal seat-slot 3 cut therein and opening thiough the center ofthe bottom thcrcoinndcxtcnding completely out through the 0nd. positesides of" this scat-slot the web of the rail extremity carrying the sameis enlarged or transversely thickened, as at 4, to preserve the strengthof the said :nil-sectionin viewot the removal of the material to formthe said seat-slbt. The scat-slot 3 at the extremity where it opensthrough the end of the section 2 has afilared mouth 5, for a )urposewhich will be presgnfly set forth. 'lhetsection 1 is fornied wit 1 alongitudinally i centrally-disposed tdngue 6, and at the ioint where itmeets or intersects with the body of the section 1 it istransverselycniargcd to pro vide a wedge 7 to fit in the flared mouth 5of the seat-slot 3 of the section 2., The Web of the rail-section 1,adjacent the .nd of said section, is also transversely thickened, as at8. The slot 3 is of such. depth and the tongue 6 of such vertical extentthat when the two rail-sections 1 and 2 are brought in close relationend to end the flanges of the said sections will be in the samehorizontal plane is invention relates to rail-joints; and j (ln opj andare adapted to be arranged on suitable plates 10 on the ties.

At the joint or abutting ends of the two I sections a preferred form ofsecuring means vis used and consists of opposite inwardlyprojectingchair members 11 and 12, which are secured to the tics by means ofsuitable spikes, the chair member 12 having a central. nb 13, whichengages the rail-sections close up to the heads thereof, as shown byFig. 3. The opposite members of the baseflange of the rail-section 2 areflared, as at 14, to compensate for the increased thickness of the weband to carryout the idea of strengthening the said section in atransverse d1rection owing to the formation of the seat-slot 3, and fromthe maximum projection 15 of the flare the flange members taper orconverge, as at 16, to the terminals of said members. The openingsthrough the inner p01 tions of the chair members 11 and 12, as at 17 and18, are made to correspond to this taper and receive the said ta ereuextremities of the flange members. ythis means the railswill beprevented from buckling, and asecure fastening will result when thechair members are spikefl to the tie on which they are disposer. Theimproved joint permits necesl sary expansion and contraction of therails, but will obstruct any undue slippin r thereof in a longitudinaldirection, and furt ermore, sagging of the joint will also be obviated."lhis construction, while adapted for railjoints throughout arailroad-line, is particularly effective on curves,'and the employmentof fish-plates and bolts as in ordinary railroad-joints is entirelydispensed with, and i from a comparative standpoint the improved jointwill entail but ver little expense in excess of the ordinary fis -plateand bolt connectionai'id with the additional advantage of uiekassemblage and safet Furthermore,

t e rails will be more durable at their meeting ends when connected bythe improved 'oint, I

J The rib 13 of the one chair member is always on the outside of therail-sections, and the opposite chair member, which is of less verticalextent, gives a clearance for the flanges of the ear-wheels, andtherefore it is necessary to form theouter chair members as rights andlel' ts to accommodate this particularapplication. AnotheradvantafiethatI may be mentioned with respect to t e 1111- 1 proved rail-joint is thatit requires no straight forward movement to connect the AVILP-l movementto disconnect the rails.

rn'ls and thereby avoid any reverse beektion provided with acentrelfllongitudinally imorqvrnl mil-joint parts are separated by snmlymoving the clunr plates or members The extending tongue to fit in t esaid slot and the web thereof thickened for a short dis tance, theflange members of the section havlunh' on the ['IL l-section 1 andraisin the raili in the slot therein adjacent to said slot bein g l g h1 first flared and then tapered or converged to sat'thm L. straight up,nn'l in assembling the ports the lztll'FUCliUllh are lowered. one uponthe other :ml the vhn relates moved fortheir free extremities, and chairmembers up pliezl to opposite sides of the oint end havwmul from tho rnl-si lon I over the rni1-sec ing the inner slots shaped to receive thetion 2.

What I (hum is converged portions of the flange members.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature A rail-joint eons'sting ofrail-sections, one in presence of two witnesses. of the sections hiunngan un ereut longitul (linnlly- Xhtll ling sent-slot opening out throughthe owl thereof and a thwkencd web on opposite sides of the slot, andthe other see- JUHN L. MERTINS. Witnesses:

R. N. SELLERS, J. R. KNIGHT;

